Business Valuation Cost: Business Appraisal Cost and How Much a Business Valuation Costs in 2026
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Estimated business value
Method breakdown
What moves this number
Estimate, not a certified appraisal. Your figures are not stored.
A business valuation costs $2,000 to $10,000 for most US small businesses, and $3,000 to $8,000 covers the majority of straightforward engagements. The lever that moves the price is not the size of your company, it is which of the two engagement types you buy: a calculation engagement runs $1,500 to $8,000, and a valuation engagement ending in a conclusion of value runs $5,000 to $15,000. Litigation, divorce, gift tax and multi entity work runs from $15,000 past $50,000.
No US body regulates these fees. NACVA and the AICPA set standards for how the work is performed and what the report must say, not what it costs, which is why the ranges published online contradict each other by a factor of ten. This page separates the fee by engagement type, by who signs it, and by what the number is for, and then does the arithmetic almost nobody does: what the fee works out to as a share of what businesses in your sector actually sell for. Last updated September 2026.
Engagement type
What a business valuation costs by engagement type
Read any quote by engagement type first. The professional standards define exactly two, and the gap between them explains most of the price dispersion you will find while shopping. Everything else, industry, location, urgency, moves the number far less than this one choice does.
| Engagement | What you receive | Typical US cost | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calculation engagement | A calculated value using approaches agreed with you in advance, lighter documentation | $1,500 to $8,000 | Usually under 10 business days |
| Valuation engagement | A conclusion of value, all approaches considered, full documentation, testimony grade support | $5,000 to $15,000 | Up to 20 business days |
| Complex or multi entity | Several operating companies, unusual capital structure, specialized industry | $10,000 to $30,000 and up | Four to eight weeks |
| Litigation and expert witness | A valuation engagement plus deposition and testimony, billed hourly on top | $15,000 to $50,000 and up | Set by the case calendar |
The distinction is not a marketing tier. Under AICPA VS Section 100 an analyst performing a calculation engagement agrees with you in advance to limit the approaches and methods applied, and the result must be called a calculated value. It may never be called a conclusion of value, and a detailed report may never be issued for a calculation engagement. A court can give it less weight for exactly that reason. If the number is going somewhere contested, buying the cheaper engagement can cost you the argument it was supposed to win.
Fee bands compiled from published US valuation firm and M&A advisor cost guides, retrieved September 2026. Engagement definitions from AICPA Statement on Standards for Valuation Services, VS Section 100.
Who signs it
Business appraisal cost by provider type
The second question is who puts their name on it, because that is what determines whether anyone outside your company has to accept the number. Two of the rows below are free, and both are free for a reason worth understanding before you take them.
| Provider | Published cost | What you get | Fit for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business broker opinion of value | $0 to $2,500 | Usually free with a listing engagement | Setting an asking price |
| Sell side advisor indicative range | Often free | The advisor is buying the mandate, not selling a report | A first market read |
| Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) | $3,000 to $8,000 | USPAP compliant written report | SBA lending, buy sell, planning |
| Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) | $5,000 to $15,000 | The litigation and divorce standard | Court, divorce, contested value |
| 409A valuation provider | $2,000 to $15,000 and up | Audit defensible fair market value of common stock | Option strike prices |
| Online estimator or software | $0 to about $1,500 a year | A multiple based range, no signature, no standards opinion | Triage before you spend |
A broker opinion of value costs nothing because it is bundled with a listing agreement, and the broker earns on the sale rather than on the report. That is not a criticism, it is a genuinely useful market read from someone who sells businesses like yours every month. It is simply not accepted by lenders, courts or the IRS, and it comes from a party whose income depends on you signing the listing. Take it, and take it in that spirit.
Our calculation
What the fee costs you as a share of the sale price
Every fee quoted on this page is flat and per file. Valuation fees barely scale downward below about $500,000 of enterprise value, because the standards work is the same whether the business is worth $200,000 or $2,000,000. So the honest way to read a quote is not in dollars, it is against what a business in your sector actually changes hands for. The sector medians below are median sale prices of businesses that closed, taken from the closed transaction benchmarks behind our sector pages.
| Sector | Median sale price | Calculation engagement as share of price | Valuation engagement as share of price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | $220,000 | 0.68% to 3.64% | 2.27% to 6.82% |
| Dental practices | $350,000 | 0.43% to 2.29% | 1.43% to 4.29% |
| Accounting and tax practices | $425,000 | 0.35% to 1.88% | 1.18% to 3.53% |
| Insurance agencies | $497,500 | 0.30% to 1.61% | 1.01% to 3.02% |
| Gas stations | $615,000 | 0.24% to 1.30% | 0.81% to 2.44% |
| Software, SaaS and apps | $625,000 | 0.24% to 1.28% | 0.80% to 2.40% |
| HVAC and plumbing | $750,000 | 0.20% to 1.07% | 0.67% to 2.00% |
Read the two ends of the table together, because that is the finding. The same $15,000 valuation engagement costs 6.82% of the price a median restaurant sells for and 2.00% of the price a median HVAC business sells for. Identical work, identical report, and it takes 3.41 times the bite out of the smaller transaction. Nobody publishes this comparison, and it is the number that should decide whether you buy the report at all.
The practical rule that falls out of it: at the small end of main street, a full valuation engagement is hard to justify unless something forces it, and something often does. An SBA lender above the intangible threshold, a partner buying you out, a divorce court or an IRS reader all force it, and in those cases the fee is not optional at any percentage. When nothing forces it, a calculation engagement or an estimate does the same job for the decision you are actually making.
Computed here. Sector medians are median sale prices of businesses sold in the United States, from the published closed transaction benchmarks used on our sector valuation pages. Percentages apply the published fee bands from section 01 to those medians. A median is not your business, so treat the column as a scale check on a quote rather than a prediction.
What it is for
How much a business valuation costs by purpose
Value is always stated as of a date and for a stated use, and the use changes the product. An appraiser who does not ask what the valuation is for on the first call is a warning sign, because the same company costs different amounts to value depending on who is going to read the answer.
| Purpose | Typical cost | Why it prices where it does |
|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) change of ownership | $2,000 to $5,000 | The most commoditized formal product in the market. The lender orders it and the report must be addressed to the lender. |
| Selling to a third party | $3,000 to $8,000 | A calculation engagement is usually enough, because the buyer will run their own numbers anyway. |
| Partner buyout or buy sell agreement | $5,000 to $15,000 | Two parties with opposed interests read the same report, so it has to survive being argued with. |
| Divorce | $5,000 to $15,000, more if contested | Report plus testimony. Complex or multi entity cases run past $50,000. |
| Gift and estate tax filing | $5,000 to $15,000 | Written for an IRS reader. Discounts for lack of marketability and control get scrutinized. |
| 409A option pricing | $2,000 to $15,000 and up | Repeats every twelve months or after any material event. |
| Internal planning and exit prep | $0 to $3,000 | Nobody outside the company reads it, so the standards burden drops and so does the price. |
Two rows deserve a closer look. Divorce is the most expensive row not because the analysis is harder but because the report has to survive an opponent whose job is to attack it, and because testimony is billed on top of the report. And the 409A row repeats: it is not a one time purchase but an annual obligation that resets after any material event, which is why it is priced and shopped differently from everything else on this page. We cover what those providers charge in our guide to 409A valuation cost.
When it is not optional
When an SBA loan forces you to pay for a valuation
If you are buying a business with SBA 7(a) financing, whether you pay for an independent valuation is not your decision. Under SOP 50 10 8, effective 1 June 2025, the test is run on the intangible portion of the deal: take everything being financed, including the 7(a) loan, any 504 loan and seller financing, and subtract the appraised value of the real estate and equipment.
Intangibles of $250,000 or less
The lender may value it in house
No third party appraisal fee, unless the lender's own credit policy requires one anyway. Many do.
Intangibles above $250,000, or a related party deal
An independent valuation is mandatory
Budget $2,000 to $5,000. It must come from a qualified source and be performed for the lender's purposes.
Two details catch buyers out. First, the lender engages the appraiser, not you, and a valuation you commissioned yourself before applying cannot be used, however good it is. Second, the SOP caps the 7(a) loan amount used for a change of ownership at the valuation figure, so if the appraisal comes in under the agreed price, the gap becomes your cash or seller paper. The SOP recognizes five designations as a qualified source:
| Designation | Full name | Awarding body |
|---|---|---|
| ASA | Accredited Senior Appraiser | American Society of Appraisers |
| ABV | Accredited in Business Valuation | AICPA |
| CVA | Certified Valuation Analyst | NACVA |
| BCA | Business Certified Appraiser | International Society of Business Appraisers |
| CBA | Certified Business Appraiser | Institute of Business Appraisers, program closed in 2016, existing holders still qualify |
Because the lender orders the report and the product is tightly specified, SBA valuations are the most commoditized formal valuation in the US market and the cheapest credentialed report you can buy. That also makes them the wrong tool for anything else: an SBA valuation is written for a credit file, not for a negotiation. If you are working out what to offer before you apply, price the deal first and buy the report when the lender asks for it. Our note on business valuation for an SBA loan walks through the sequence.
The other tier
What it costs to do the valuation yourself
Every price above is per file. Valuation software is annual or perpetual and unlimited, which puts it in a different order of magnitude and explains why practices bring this work in house. These are published US prices, each re-checked at the vendor's own store in September 2026 rather than copied from a directory listing.
| Product | Published price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| ValuAdder | $375 one time | Perpetual desktop licence, unlimited valuations, no renewal |
| MoneySoft Business Valuation Specialist | $795 first year, $595 to renew | Single user subscription, retail list $995 |
| ValuSource | $1,465 a year or $135 a month | Single seat, plus $95 per extra user |
| Quist Spotlight | $995 one time | Advanced tier $3,995 |
| ValuTrax | $29 a month | Broker oriented estimating tool |
| DealStats comparable transactions | $1,499 a year, $529 day pass | Sold private company transaction data, billed separately |
| BIZCOMPS comparable transactions | $729 a year | Smaller main street transaction database |
One calculation engagement at the bottom of its band, $1,500, buys four perpetual ValuAdder licences. That arithmetic is the entire sales pitch of every vendor in the table, and for a practice opening several files a year it is correct. For a single owner valuing one business once, it is not, because the software does not produce the thing you are actually buying when you hire an appraiser: a signature and a professional standards opinion behind it.
The line most buyers underestimate is the comparable transaction data in the last two rows. It is billed separately from the software, it costs more than the software, and it is the part a reviewer, a lender or opposing counsel actually tests. Full breakdown in our business valuation software pricing comparison, and the tools themselves in our roundup of business valuation software.
Practical
How to spend less without buying the wrong report
Name the reader first
Decide who has the authority to reject the number: a lender, a court, the IRS, a partner, or nobody. That single answer picks your engagement type and rules out the tiers you do not need.
Fix the books before the kickoff
Three to five years of statements and returns, add backs documented, personal expenses already separated. Most fee overruns are the appraiser rebuilding your accounting at professional rates.
Get three quotes and compare engagements
Fee dispersion here is enormous and nobody publishes a rate card. Make each firm state whether they are quoting a calculation or a valuation engagement, or you are comparing different products.
Do not pay for testimony you will not use
Litigation grade support costs real money to prepare. If the report is for planning, say so, and decline the deposition ready package.
Run an estimate before you commit
If a free range tells you the business is worth less than the transaction needs, you have saved the entire fee. If it confirms the deal is live, you now know what scope to buy.
Ask what a re-issue costs
Valuations go stale. If you will need an update next year, an update from the same firm is far cheaper than a new engagement, and it is worth agreeing the price up front.
Questions
Business valuation cost questions people actually ask
How much does a business valuation cost?
A business valuation costs $2,000 to $10,000 for most US small businesses, with straightforward engagements clustering in the $3,000 to $8,000 band. A limited calculation engagement runs $1,500 to $8,000 and a full valuation engagement ending in a conclusion of value runs $5,000 to $15,000. Litigation, gift tax and multi entity work runs higher, past $50,000 in contested cases.
How much does a business appraisal cost?
A business appraisal costs the same as a business valuation, because in US practice the two words describe one professional service. Budget $2,000 to $10,000 for a small company. The word on the engagement letter that actually changes the price is not appraisal or valuation, it is calculation versus conclusion of value.
How much does it cost to get a business valued?
Getting a business valued costs nothing if you use a broker opinion of value tied to a listing or an online estimator, and $3,000 to $8,000 if you hire a credentialed appraiser to write a report a lender or a court will accept. The free options are real, they are simply not admissible anywhere that matters.
How much does a small business valuation cost?
A small business valuation costs $2,000 to $10,000. Below roughly $500,000 of enterprise value the fee stops scaling with the business, because the appraiser still has to do the same standards work on a smaller company. That is why the fee is a much larger share of the sale price for a small restaurant than for an HVAC company.
Who pays for a business valuation?
Whoever needs the report pays for it. In an SBA financed acquisition the buyer pays but the lender orders it and the report is addressed to the lender. In a divorce the cost is normally split between both parties unless a court orders otherwise. In a sale the seller pays for their own valuation and the buyer pays for theirs.
How much does a certified valuation analyst cost?
A Certified Valuation Analyst charges $3,000 to $8,000 for a USPAP compliant written report on a small business. An Accredited Senior Appraiser, the designation most often retained for divorce and litigation work, runs $5,000 to $15,000 for the report and bills testimony separately by the hour.
What is the average cost of a business valuation?
There is no published average, because no US body regulates valuation fees. NACVA and the AICPA set standards for how the work is performed and what the report must contain, not what it costs. Every figure quoted online traces back to an individual firm marketing page, which is why the ranges you find contradict each other so widely.
Is a business valuation worth the cost?
It depends on what the number has to survive. If a lender, a court, the IRS or an opposing party will read it, a signed report is the cheapest part of the transaction and you have no alternative. If you are deciding whether to sell at all, a free estimate answers the question and a $7,000 report does not answer it any better.
Last updated September 2026
Asked another way
What owners ask when they are deciding whether to spend the money
These come up once the price ranges are understood and the decision itself is the problem.
Do I need to pay for a business valuation before I list my business for sale?
Usually not. Most brokers provide an opinion of value at no charge as part of taking the listing, and a buyer will run their own numbers regardless. Pay for a formal valuation when you have a specific reader who can reject the number: an SBA lender, a partner buying you out, a court, or the IRS.
Why do business valuation quotes vary so much for the same company?
Because you are being quoted for different products. A calculation engagement lets the analyst agree in advance to limit the procedures, so it costs less and carries less weight. A valuation engagement requires all three approaches to be considered and fully documented. Always ask which one the quote covers before comparing two numbers.
Can I use cheap valuation software instead of hiring an appraiser?
For your own decisions, yes. For anything a third party relies on, no. Software produces a number, not an opinion, and no standards body accepts an unsigned output. The honest split is to use software or an estimator to decide whether the transaction is worth pursuing, then pay a credentialed appraiser once you know it is.
How can I reduce what a business valuation costs me?
Arrive with clean records. Three to five years of statements and tax returns, add backs already documented, personal expenses already separated, and a clear statement of the purpose and the valuation date. Most fee overruns come from the appraiser rebuilding your books, which is chargeable time you could have spent yourself.
Before you pay for a report
What businesses in your sector sell for
Find out what it is worth before you pay to find out
Enter your revenue and owner earnings and read a value range benchmarked to real closed sales. An educational estimate, not a certified appraisal.